College Field Hockey
Rider University 1, Bryant University 0
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Game

SMITHFIELD, R.I.—Sophomore Shannon Hughes scored her third goal of the season, tipping in a pass from midfield after a turnover to give the Rider University field hockey team a much needed 1-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference win at Bryant University on Friday evening.

“Bryant is a tremendously talented team,” said head coach Lori Hussong.  “We played strong tonight and more importantly we played together.  We are happy to come out with a win.”

“The game was close the entire time,” Hughes said.  “We came out with the win because we played together and cashed in and made a lot of good plays.”

With Bryant dominating the early part of the second half including a shot that went just wide of the far post, Hughes (South Plainfield) broke in on goal and tipped in a play setup by sophomore Kesheal Henderson (Heath, Mass./Mohawk Regional) and freshman Christine van Egmond (Heemstede, Netherlands) with 25:48 remaining for the only score of the game.

“Kesheal had an outstanding touch on the ball,” Hughes remembered.  “Luckily I was there to push it in.  It was a right spot at the right time goal.”

“Bryant was very athletic and very fast,” Hussong said.  “They had chances to score and luckily we cashed in the opportunity we had.”

Senior Joelle Prettyman (Newark, Del./St. Mark's) did not have to make a save in the contest in picking up her ninth win of the season and third shutout.

The Broncs out-shot Bryant 9-6 and Rider held a 5-1 advantage in penalty corners.

“The defense held tough,” said Hussong.  “They only gave up one penalty corner which is a very good effort.  We came up with some clutch interceptions, led by Kalyn (O'Brien) and Henderson.”

“The defense was amazing,” said Hughes.  “They were strong and had amazing tackles.  They didn't break down once and only gave up one corner.  A shutout against Bryant is very hard because they are a very skilled team.”

In 2014, Rider won 3-2 in Lawrenceville with then sophomore Carlota Alsina (Barcelona, Spain) scoring twice in the come from behind win.  In 2013, the teams met in Smithfield with the Bulldogs winning 2-1 in a game decided on penalty strokes, the only time in now eight tries that Bryant has won over Rider.

This was Bryant's (3-15, 1-4 MAAC) eighth loss this season by one goal and Rider improved to 5-4 in games decided by the slimmest of margins this season.

After a 1-2 conference start, Rider (11-6, 3-2 MAAC) has won two straight and the Broncs can wrap up a conference playoff berth for the 16th straight season with a win at Siena College on Sunday.

Siena (3-2 MAAC) defeated first place Monmouth (4-1 MAAC) on a penalty stroke with 2.9 seconds left for a 1-0 victory over the Hawks on Friday.

“Any given day in the MAAC,” Hussong added about the other scores in the conference.  “The conference is wide open and we just have to make sure we do our job on Sunday.”

“We just need our defense to play strong and hopefully score more than one goal against Siena,” said Hughes.  “We are confident heading into the game.”

-RU-